The Uzumaki Reject Reality Substitute Their Own
by LeStrange and Quinzel
Summary: After Sasuke kills Danzo Karin is left behind and found by his ex-teammates, who proceed to take her to Konoha. A trip to the hospital and a blood test later Karin has decided she's staying for good. After all, Uzumaki have to stick together, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Co-Written with ISpeltEclipseWrong this is a 'What if?' fic in which Karin is found by Naruto and several discoveries are made. The POV is subjective all third person, and the time line and terrain had been altered _very_ slightly for our purposes. **

**Feedback is welcome, let us know what you think!**

**We don't own anything.**

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The Uzumakis Reject Reality, Substitute Their Own

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Chapter 1

Naruto was running faster than he'd ever ran before, his teeth clenched tightly and grinding together in determination. Sasuke was close, fighting against Danzo from what he'd been told. Sakura and Kakashi had gone on ahead, and Naruto was racing to catch up. He would defeat Sasuke, and bring him back, just like he said he would. He had to end all this, it was insane.

Naruto slowed to a stop on a thick tree limb, smelling blood close by. He looked down from his perch, seeing a girl with bright red hair leaning her back against a tree trunk. The smell was coming from her, and she seemed close to unconsciousness. He dropped down from the tree limb, landing with ease close by the girl.

"Hey! Who are you?" He called, approaching the girl with caution. "You're hurt."

Karin had felt the boy before he had gotten close to her, and reacted accordingly. With no knowledge except the niggling feeling that she had felt his chakra before a some point, briefly, she pulled out a kunai and tried not to pass out. 'Try' being the key word. She had lost a lot of blood, and that was taking its toll on her body, trying to trick her into closing her eyes. She could feel it staining the dark material of her tattered Akatsuki cloak, most likely ruining it.

Red eyes snapped up when the voice reached her ears and the girl frowned. A blond haired boy stood a bit to close to her, orange peaking out from under the cloak he wore. His chakra was… well it was warm. It felt like the sun had been bundled up and put into the boy(who couldn't have been older than her). She hadn't felt anything like that in a very long time. Blood was starting to fill up her right lung and when she first tried to say something she choked. Crimson liquid exploded from her throat, coating her tongue and splattering unpleasantly on the ground before her.

Well, that had been a failure in communication.

When the boy saw the red blossom bubble and burst from the girl's trembling mouth he took an instinctive step backward. He was no stranger to carnage, being the victim and cause of much blood and gore in his career as a ninja, but he hadn't been expecting that. After a moment, his widened eyes narrowed in determination and he took a few steps closer to the girl.

"Whoa, okay there. Just calm down, I'm going to help you, alright? Just hold on." Naruto assured, his voice softening to something less gruff and more comforting. He knelt down beside the girl and pried the kunai from her hand. It wasn't that hard a feat with her in this state. He pressed a hand down on her wound to stem the bleeding and helped her to sit up, allowing her to clear her throat.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

On her second attempt to vocalize her answer she actually managed to succeed, even if it was a bit garbled with the amount of sticky liquid in her trachea.

"K-Karin," she tried to make a gesture for his name but her arm wouldn't move anymore. "Who're you?"

That had sounded mostly understandable. His hand was stinting the blood flow out of her body, but the amount flowing into her lung was still too much. She struggled against the urge to give in and pass out, focusing on forcing healing chakra to the injured area. It would have worked if she wasn't so low. She could have just bitten herself if she weren't so low. The only reason she had so little was because she had spent so much trying to heal the one that stabbed her.

"Hello, Karin," Naruto said calmly, shifting the girl closer to him, "My name is Naruto. I'm going to pick you up, okay? I have a friend who heals people and she shouldn't be too far off. We can take you back to our village and get you treated."

Without waiting for and answer, Naruto slipped his arms under the girl and stood up smoothly with her in his arms. She was normal weight, but he was strong enough for it to not be a problem. He shifted her weight to cradle her with one arm, the other hand going back to stop the blood out of her chest, and leaped into the trees. He ran quickly, sending out a flare of chakra to let his team know he needed help.

"Who did this to you, Karin?"

Who? Had she been able she would have started shouting in the sudden wave of anger. All of the things she had done for him, left the post that been given to her by Orochimaru, put up with her annoying teammates, risked her life! And he stabbed her. Didn't even give her warning to move or a single word of apology.

_If you can be taken hostage so easily all you are is a burden to me._

Anger rolled off of her in waves and her chakra flared enough to keep her from loosing that lung completely. She spat his name out like a poison.

"Sasuke."

Naruto slowed down in his surprise, stopping for a few moments on a tree branch before he remembered himself and kept going. He pushed off the branch that snapped under his weight and doubled his speed to make up for his pause. He gritted his teeth and helped Karin lean forward to expel more blood from her lung.

"Oh?" he said, trying to sound non-nonchalant. The girl was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, so she was obviously with the enemy, but... He'd just hurt his comrade like this and left her to die? God... "What do you know about Sasuke? Unless you're still loyal to him, that is." He really hoped she wasn't, and she didn't seem like it, but you never knew with these types...

"No," her voice was quieter that time around. She wasn't loyal to him, not anymore. The chakra that had once been so wonderful had become something dark and tainted. She may have been devoted to the boy who had saved her so many years ago, but she was no fool. She wouldn't be going back to him. Suigetsu and Juugo maybe, but Sasuke had done the unforgivable. Wind flew by, blowing stray locks of red into her vision. She looked back up at the face of the boy who had helped her, taking idle note of the marks on his cheeks and the symbol on his forehead.

"What do you want to know about him?" she asked after a few minutes. That rush of fury had helped clear her head, something that seemed to have been clouded for years. How had she been that stupid? Thinking if she followed him like a lost puppy he might find interest in her? She had been a fool.

"What he's been up to, where he might be going, what his plans are," Naruto listed idly, feeling the distant twinge of his team's chakra when he really stretched his out to find them. They weren't that far off, but he picked up speed anyway. He sent more chakra to his legs, trying to hurry.

"He was my best friend, you know, but left the village to join the Snake Sanin to become more powerful. He wanted to kill his brother, and I heard he did, but now... I don't know what he's doing, but it's bad. I need to stop him, bring him home, and stop all... _this_." Naruto sighed, and shook his head a bit.

"Are you doing okay?"

"There's blood in my lung, what do you think?" she asked irritably before reigning in her temper. Her glasses were skewed, making it harder to see but she could still tell that the boy was trying to be nonchalant. And not doing a great job at it, either. His jaw was too tight.

"Sasuke _has_ been getting stronger. He killed Orochimaru and then recruited me and two other to track down his brother. He took his brothers eyes after he killed him, and now he wants revenge on Konoha for making his brother, Itachi, kill their family," she blinked a few times, the adrenaline starting to wear off and the blood loss coming back. She was starting to get dizzy.

"I thinks that's about it," she murmured, trying to think if there was anything she was forgetting. There was plenty she left out, but her throat was still clogged and talking wasn't fun at that moment.

Naruto was startled by this revelation. Itachi had been made to kill his clan? By Konoha? But... That didn't make sense, Konoha had always treasured their clans. He'd have to ask her to elaborate later on, but for now he had to focus on saving her life.

"Sorry, dumb question. Blood in your lungs isn't fun." Naruto answered quietly, deciding not to comment on the other information for the time being. He felt the other just up ahead. "Hold on, Sakura should be able to help."

"OI, SAKURA-CHAN! I HAVE SOMEONE WHO NEEDS YOUR HELP!" He called up ahead to the other two who had stopped to wait for him, a few moment's later landing beside them on a tree limb.

"Her name is Karin, and she has some valuable information on Sasuke. I don't think she's going to be exactly loyal to him after he stabbed her, but we should report her to Tsunade when we get back. She's not stable right now, and she's lost a lot of blood."

His volume made her cringe, not that she had any room to talk. She usually shouted much louder at her silver haired teammate. Karin's head lolled to the side, cushioned by an orange (What kind of ninja wears orange?) covered arm. Her eyes landed on two very strange people; a man about a decade older than her and Naruto, and a pink haired girl their age, probably 'Sakura', the apparent medic nin. She didn't look like much, but then again neither did Karin.

In her mind she was going over the conversation, the fact that this sunny male had been one of the teammates Sasuke had mentioned on very rare occasions. He had never said any names, but he didn't seem to fit the description of 'complete idiot'. He knew enough to slow down her bleeding if nothing else, so he had to have some intelligence. Her chakra was near non-existent at this point, so it was a good thing they had reached help when they had. She couldn't slow down the bleeding anymore.

Naruto shifted Karin in his arms and knelt down, lying her down on the thick tree limb and holding her steady. Sakura looked at Kakashi, who nodded, and then went to kneel at Karin's other side. She cut the girl's cloak and shirt open down to right under the wound, which was on her upper chest. Luckily, this didn't make showing anything unmodest necessary. She opened pulled the fabric back and quickly examined the wound.

She pooled green, healing chakra into her palm and laid it over the wound, sending out a gentle, probing charge. Once she's gauged Karin's internal injuries she started to mend the lung and muscle around it first, pressing down to stem the bleeding to the outside. A few long minutes later and finally Karin could breathe again.

"Naruto, go grab Karin a plasma pill from my bag. She needs to regain some blood." Sakura instructed as she started to heal up the external wound. Naruto nodded and was back in a flash, helping Karin to sit up and take the pill.

"Feeling better?" He asked, smiling brightly down at her. He laughed a bit, "Thought you were going to die on me a second there."

Karin huffed and turned her nose up at the suggestion.

"As if I'd die that easily," she retorted, not sure herself if she was being serious or trying to get over the ordeal of almost-death-via-teammate. Didn't Konoha teach their kids to value each other? She was pretty sure that was something they had emphasized in the chunin exams. She faltered for a second and looked up at Sakura, then at Naruto. Of course, it was the chunin exams. That was where she knew their chakra from. She had been so preoccupied by trying to survive she hadn't made any lasting memories of anyone but Sasuke there.

The medic was clearly skilled if she had managed to heal the damage so quickly, though she didn't like the cold air on her exposed, bite riddled shoulder. A necessary discomfort she supposed.

"What happens now?" she asked, trying to sit up and wincing. Her shoulder would be sore for awhile, the red head predicted.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other briefly before looking up at Kakashi. The older man sighed and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"We'll be bringing you back to Konoha with us," he informed her, "We'll report to our Hokage and she'll tell us what to do with you. This will probably include her sending you to the hospital for evaluation and any further healing necessary, and then putting you into custody of our T&I Department to extract any information you have on Sasuke, and the Akatsuki. After that... Depends, since you said you are no longer loyal to Sasuke. We'd have to confirm that though, as you could be lying."

Sakura looked up a Kakashi, "We could always ask the Yamanaka clan to send someone to Mind Walk her, makes sure she's telling the truth..." Kakashi nodded in response.

"I'll have to ask the Hokage about that."

Meanwhile, Naruto was helping Karin to her feet. "Can you walk, Karin? Or would you like me to carry you?"

"I can walk," she stated, though she did use his arm as support until she had feet properly planted. A Mind Walk sounded very strange, though compared to other things she had seen (and done) she doubted it would be too horrible. It wouldn't be the best if Konoha found out about all of the experiment she had helped with, but what could they do? She was just a worker, admittedly a very good one.

It took Karin a few moments to regain her sense of balance and when she did she pulled her cloak back against her body, once more obscuring the permanent scarring left from the healing she had done. It was a clan technique from what her mother had said when she was a child. Very draining, but she had good reserves so the only real problem was that the marks never went away.

"Where is Sasuke?" she asked suddenly, casting her senses out. She couldn't feel him at all. There was Juugo, apparently unconscious, and Suigetsu as well, also passed out. Probably from chakra exhaustion.

But the Last of the Uchiha (or not) was nowhere to be found.

"Sasuke escaped. We were following him, but we wouldn't have been able to catch him anyway," Kakashi stated bluntly, making sure they had all their things together. "We were hoping that with the information you give us, we can find him."

Naruto made sure that Karin was steady before letting her arm go and stepping away. He looked up at his teammates and gave a sheepish smile. "Ready to go?" he asked, and they nodded. Kakashi and Sakura took off in the direction of Konoha, but Naruto instead matched his pace with Karin's slower one. Every now and again he'd look over to her, making sure she was alright.

"He's probably in that other world," she said after a few miles and several minutes of thinking. They didn't really have a base set up, and she doubted that Sasuke would go to any of Orochimaru's old lairs. From what she could feel other ninja, Kumo from the 'looks' if it, had taken in her teammates and they were now long out of her range.

The blond was the one that stayed at her pace, slower from the injuries and lack of chakra. She could give it all she liked, but redirecting and absorbing chakra was a whole other thing. Theoretically, she could, but she had never put it to the test and didn't feel like trying it when in the presence of former enemies, even if they were being nicer to her than she would have been to them. She wasn't even tied up!

Naruto made a small 'hm' sound, a bit startled by the sudden comment. He tilted his head at Karin, looking at her with a confused look. "What other world?" he asked.

They were approaching Konoha, now. They'd traversed more ground than Naruto had first thought, he must have really been going fast when he was bringing Karin to the others. He was still iffy on letting her run on her own, but she seemed to be doing just fine.

"It's something Madara can do," she explained, looking over at her rescuer, "He pulls people into a world that's mostly just a bunch of grey blocks and darkness. He had me heal Sasuke in there once, just before he killed Danzo... and stabbed me," she grumbled the last part to herself bitterly. The cold mountains had fallen far behind them and they had struck bright greenery that she felt like she hadn't seen in years.

It had been years, actually. The last time she had been in Konoha was for her exams, which she had failed. Who knew she would end up back in this place so soon?

"I haven't been here in a long time," she voiced her thoughts as the trees surrounded them, filling the air with bird sounds and flashing emerald leaves. The Land of Fire was aptly named.

Naruto's eyes widened and he swallowed passed the lump suddenly in his throat. He had his entire own world? As if the Tsukuyomi that Itachi had wasn't bad enough... He definitely didn't want to get sucked into there. He still felt bad for Karin, and more than a little angry at Sasuke, for what happened. Teammates don't just stab their teammates!

"I hope you know we Konoha nins aren't all like that. Sasuke has always been difficult because... Well, he's Sasuke." Naruto laughed slightly at his lame ending.

"You might be staying here awhile. If you've truly left behind your old life, you could even live here. It's not so bad."

"I don't have much to go back to. Orochimaru is dead, Sasuke is… and my old teammates are probably in prison right now. Not that they will be for long but," she shrugged, biting back a sigh, "I might stick around for a little while. Konoha was nice when I was taking my exams, except that Ibiki guy."

To her twelve-year-old self, Morino Ibiki had been the scariest person she had ever met. That no longer held true, but his reputation was undeniably fearsome. If she remembered correctly he was head of the T&I department, so she was probably going to him soon enough. Well, she would just have to deal with that.

"Yeah, Ibiki wasn't the nicest guy, no. He's also more than a little terrifying, " Naruto huffed a quick laugh, "Either way, you won't have to face him quite yet. We have to deal with Tsunade and the hospital first," Naruto shrugged, "Shouldn't be too bad."

They were approaching the gates to the village, the other two were already standing around the check-in desk waiting for them. They landed close by and walked up to the desk, being waved into the village by the chuunin there. Naruto put a hand on Karin's lower back, helping to guide her through the crowded streets in her weakened state and keep her from running off.

"I hope not," she stated, weaving through the unfamiliar streets with help from Naruto. Karin had to wonder if everyone in the leaf was as nice as he and his teammates or if it was just a result of Sasuke. He probably sucked all the negativity out of them before he left, like some kind of vampire.

The red head snorted at the thought, a foolish one, and blamed it on the lack of blood. The plasma pill had helped, but she had lost quite a bit. On the upside she could breath again.

Naruto grinned and turned his head towards Karin. "What's so funny?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The Hokage Tower was just up ahead, and the foot traffic around this area was worse. Naruto feared how Tsunade would react, but she'd seemed worn out and apathetic the last he'd seen her; too much paperwork, too little sleep. He hoped that meant she'd go easy on them.

"I was just thinking you and your teammates are so nice compared to Sasuke, and he always has been dark and little brooding. And with his skin so pale," she couldn't help but start to grin on her own, "He could be a vampire."

Oh god, she was starting to sound like Suigetsu. It was contagious. And on another note, Naruto's smile seemed to be infectious. The girl stepped to the side, duck a group of genin carrying several boxes too big for their size. For a town that had almost been wiped off the map, Konoha was looking pretty good.

"A negativity vampire?..." Naruto paused and his grin widened, he snorted a laugh, "Yeah, maybe." The remains of Team Seven + Guest entered the Hokage Tower, speaking briefly to reception. An ANBU was beside them in a flash, bowing slightly before leading them up to the Hokage's office.

Kakashi knocked on the large door, and they heard a muffled 'Enter' from the other side. They opened the door and were greeted by Tsunade, her piles of paperwork had greatly diminished and she seemed pleased if not also very tired. Good.

"Who's this?" She asked, gesturing to Karin.

Though she had never met the woman personally, Karin was a very well educated Kunoichi, and Tsunade of the Senju clan was very well known. Even with the foreknowledge that she used chakra to look young, the redhead was still surprised by the appearance of the Hokage. None the less, the girl straightened up and fixed her glasses, a reflexive habit.

"I'm Karin, an ex-teammate of Sasuke Uchiha and former subordinate under Orochimaru," she explained, not bothering to beat around the bush. There wouldn't really be a point to it by then.

The woman's chakra was strong and steady, but there was an undercurrent beneath the flow that spoke volumes of the need to avoid angering the woman, something Karin was going to attempt to do.

Tsunade merely raised her eyebrows, the action doing little to open her eyes already droopy with sleeplessness, in an expression of 'welp'. She blew air out of her mouth in a raspberry and leaned her elbow on her desk before leaning her cheek on her hand.

She gestured her head towards Karin, "I see you aren't tied up or otherwise restrained, so I assume you've renounced such affiliations?" she asked lazily. She nodded the girl's tattered clothing and the bloodstains around it, an injury recently healed.

"That's right," Karin agreed, nodding. Why would she stay with someone who stabbed her? Konoha was supposed to be her enemy and they were treating her better than many of her old affiliates had. It was almost sad really. And this Hokage, well, she had heard many things of the legendary Sanin, and of all things she expected the exhausted woman in front of her was not it.

There was no good reason she wasn't in chains, by all rights she could have been lying. The entire things might have been a trap. These people… they were really weird.

Tsunade nodded and sat up straight, flexing her fingers and letting out a deep breath, "You could be lying, is anyone here willing to vouch for you?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto stepped forward and spoke up, "I am. I don't think she'll go back to them, and she hasn't done anything to make me think she'll betray us yet."

Tsunade nodded. "I'll get someone from the Yamanaka clan down to T&I tomorrow to Mind Walk her, right now get her to the hospital. I want a full check up and some blood work done on her, and make sure that she's all healed up. We'll see how it goes from there."

"The hospital it is then," the red head commented, glancing at the team around her. She couldn't very well go to the hospital alone, an unknown ninja in a foreign village, only days after war had been declared.

Naruto nodded at the Hokage, and the others murmured something similar to 'Yes, Lady Tsunade' as they bowed. Naruto turned to Karin and placed a hand on her back again, turning to lead her out of the room. He smiled over at her and shrugged.

"I'm vouching for you, I guess I should take you to the hospital as well," he said. Within a few minutes they were at the Konoha General Hospital, signing into the front desk while mentioning they'd come under the Hokage's orders.

"You didn't have to do that," Karin stated, tapping her heel restlessly as they waited for a doctor to appear. She sent a scrutinizing look at Naruto, red eyes narrowed.

"You didn't have to do any of that. Why would you? You didn't even know my name, and I was in Akatsuki uniform. What if there had been a trap waiting for you?" She didn't even realize she had started scolding the boy, falling back into old habits. Was the kid trying to get caught? Did he even know what was going to happen if Madara got all of the Bijuu? Maybe not, but still. It hadn't been the smartest things to do. Up until then she had been so preoccupied on not dying and being angry at Sasuke she hadn't put much thought into it.

Naruto looked over at Karin when she spoke up, noting how she was getting restless with her legs. He leaned back in his chair as she continued, simply shrugging at the end. He hadn't put much thought into it, actually, and he supposed he just assumed if there had been something he could have just fought his way out. It was stupid, but it was also probably true.

He put his arms behind his head and grinned at her. "Why bother with the 'if's? There wasn't a trap waiting, and I'm fine. I saw a girl losing a lot of blood and passing out, and I guess it was the optimist in me that said nothing bad would happen. I wasn't going to let you bleed out, you know."

A few minutes later, a doctor came by.

"Are you Karin?" The woman said, her green-grey hair pulled back in a bun. "...Just '_Karin'_? No last name?"

She nodded carefully, grown used to the question through the years. 'Just Karin?' her academy teacher, genin team, jonin sensei, even Orochimaru. Always the same question.

"Just Karin," she confirmed, and followed the woman when she started into the hallways of the hospital. Part of her hoped that Naruto came with her, if only because he was somewhat familiar and the waves of welcoming chakra he produced were therapeutic to a person like her. He was a bit of an idiot, she concluded. An optimistic, reckless boy that didn't take proper precautions.

He could have let her bleed out. Hundreds of other would have.

_What a strange person. _

Naruto waited back a few seconds, but quickly got restless when Karin wasn't in his sight. He stood up and followed them, trying to look nonchalant. In typically Naruto fashion, he failed. He smiled at Karin and shrugged. "Well, maybe they'll at least let me stay outside the exam room, or maybe even sit with you when they take blood."

It turns out, that's exactly what they did. During the exam portion they had him sit outside so they could get a better look at Karin's wounds and heal up the remnants. They said she'd be fine, if a bit tired for awhile. It was nothing some good food and sleep wouldn't cure.

They let Naruto sit with her as they took a small amount of blood, going off to test something or other.

"So, what'd they say?" Naruto asked.

"That I should be dead and I won't be able to do any extraneous activity for a few weeks," was her reply. Karin had always been quick at getting over injuries; her mother, back when she was around, had said it was a 'clan thing' though Karin still had no idea what that meant. She was just Karin; no last name, and no clan to speak of for all her mother's explanations. So, with her healing rate it would about two weeks before she was back to normal, but even with her life force she would have died on that mountain if not for Naruto Uzumaki. The red head sighed.

"I guess I owe you for rescuing me," she stated, pulling her sleeve back down. The medic had tried to get her to tell what all of the marks were from, but with several quick dismissals she gave up, probably assuming it was jutsu related. Not that she was entirely wrong.

Naruto snorted a laugh at that and shrugged. "Aw, it was nothing. I'm not going to say you'd do the same for me, but I just couldn't leave you there, could I? Just try to be good from now on, that's all I ask. You find life is easier when you're not constantly running from ANBU and all that," Naruto gave her one of his large, bright grins, "This might be a bit late, but Welcome to Konoha."

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It was a slow day at the hospital. Despite war recently being declared, nothing big had happened yet. The blood lab was especially empty, and the sole technician was glad for the small amount of work to easy the boredom. First protocol when a foreign nin showed up was to put them in the computer and identify any bloodline limits they might have. The technician was surprised when the blood sample he put in almost immediately got a match, then even more so when he saw who it was...

* * *

A few minutes later the doctor appeared again, but didn't talk to Karin. She called Naruto into the hall, where they talked for several minutes too low for Karin to hear. Naruto came back into the room, looking a bit nervous.

"Karin? Can I talk to you?"

Karin hesitated, not liking the look of his face. Naruto had never looked nervous, not even when it seemed she might die. What in the world could that doctor have told him? Did she have cancer? Degenerative heart decease? Poison in her system? Some kind of lightning-caused mutation in her RBCs? Her WBCs?

"Sure, Naruto," she said at last, sitting on the exam rooms bed, "What is it?"

"Well, ah... Where did you come from, um, originally? You don't have any blood relatives, right? That you know of?" Naruto shifted back and forth on his feet, swallowing deeply and trying to keep calm. She looked scared that this was bad news, and maybe it _was_ bad news. It didn't seem like it to him, though. God, he wanted to hug her. "And that you don't have a clan or last name either?"

"I was born in Kusagakure. My mom raised me for awhile. She's not around anymore though, life of a kunoichi and all that. If she had a last name she never told it to me, but she mentioned 'clan features' a lot. She never told me anything else though," she had looked away when she began talking, the wounds still fresh despite being almost a decade old.

After a few seconds of gnawing on the inside of her cheek Karin looked back at Naruto, forcing herself to meet his eyes. He looked... Well, she didn't even know. He looked nervous, anxious, ready to burst. It kind of scared her. His chakra was restless, not helping matters.

"Why?" she asked at last, pushing her glasses up.

"It's not exactly true, all that, you see... Um, the blood relative, er... Thing. You see, I thought that too, that I didn't have any family left and I..." Naruto trailed off and sighed loudly.

"One of the first things they do when they get a blood sample from out of village is put it in our database, take notes of any genetic bloodlines we know of, and all that stuff. When new Konoha babies are born, they do the same thing. When they put your blood in, they... They got a match."

"Karin, you _do_ have a blood relative... Me. I'm your cousin, um..." He trailed off again, scratching the back of his neck and smiling nervously. "And you do have a clan name, if you're willing to take it; Uzumaki. I mean... I already vouched for you and stuff, welcomed you to Konoha... Konoha is the only family I've had, so I guess I've already asked you to join that, too. My family, I mean."

Karin was silent. She didn't say anything for a long time, repeating the words over and over in her head. She had family. She had a clan name. It was too good to be true. When she young, just after her mother had died, she had dreamed that members of the mysterious clan would appear and take her home with them. No more '_Just Karin?_'. It had never happened of course, just a child's dream and a coping mechanism for being left alone, but before her now, standing not five feet away, was her cousin.

_Her Family. _

Karin Uzumaki.

She couldn't seem to find words, or think of anything to say, so she just stared, shocked. What do you even say to that?

"O-oh," was all she managed.

"Yeah, I know. I said that too; Oh." Naruto babbled before starting to pace a bit. It wasn't so much step-step-step-step-turn as it was step-turn-step-turn. Vaguely, Naruto worried about making himself dizzy, so he stopped and stood perfectly still. He started to fidget, so that didn't work. He sat down suddenly next to Karin when he realized he felt kinda wobbly.

"Really glad I didn't let you bleed out," he joked, but it came out flat. He swallowed and looked at Karin with wide eyes, flexing his hands. What if she didn't accept? What if she didn't want to be his family? He bit his lip and hugged her, while he still had the chance. He'd never had family before, and she seemed nice.

"Well? Will you stay and be my family?"

Her first response was to jerk away. She quashed it violently and twisted into Naruto's hug. Her arms locked around him, almost desperately, as though if she let go he would disappear, and she nodded, swallowing thickly.

"Yes, I will."

With that news Konoha would have a hell of time trying to get her to leave, and he wanted to know if she was going to stay?

"How could I say no? Uzumaki… Uzumaki's have to stick together right?"

Naruto nodded, then nodded again. He laughed and hugged Karin tighter, trying not to crush her. "Yeah, we have to. I think we both have been alone too long, eh?"

He laughed again, and just lay his head on her shoulder.

_Uzumaki. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! Hope you like it.**

**We don't own Naruto.**

* * *

_In The Last Chapter_... "How could I say no? Uzumaki… Uzumakis have to stick together, right?" / He laughed again, and just lay his head on her shoulder.

* * *

Naruto was practically bouncing in his seat, each movement rustling the paper that covered the uncomfortable exam table. He was grinning brighter than the sun, childish enthusiasm in full swing. He had a family! Who could possibly blame the already loud and excitable ninja for being so thrilled?

"Are we done here? There sure were a lot of tests. Let's go home. My apartment isn't much, and oh... It might be a bit messy, but I can tidy up! You can take my bed and I'll take the couch," he said, the words coming out so fast it was a wonder he wasn't botching half of them, "I have some spare clean clothes somewhere in there that you can borrow until we can go shopping. While you get settled, I'll go tell Grandma Tsunade; Hokages have to know these things. Doctor said you were fine and we can leave whenever. "

A laugh bubbled up in her chest, something that hadn't happened in far too long. Her shoulders shook with it and Karin _Uzumaki_ nodded. In a light, affectionate manner she punched her cousin's shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Calm down, Naruto. I'm not going anywhere. We've got time to get things sorted out, no need to be so hyper about it," she chided, not actually understanding half of what he said in his excited babbling. However, she got the gist of it, and she didn't object.

For the first time in years she would be around someone from her family, though the resemblance was near nonexistent. But who cared? They were family. She had a clan of her own, however small it was.

Naruto grinned at her and stood up, stretching his arms over his head until his back popped. "I know, I know, but I can't help but to be excited. I have a cousin! I didn't even have family yesterday, now I have _extended_ family! Wow, that's... It's a big change."

Naruto grinned and turned back to face Karin, shrugging. "I do think we should leave the hospital, though. These places always make me a bit uncomfortable. I spent too much time in them as a child."

"Oh! Also, I hope you don't mind, but the next time I meet up with Sasuke I'm going to beat him to a pulp. No one hurts my cousin and gets away with it." He joked, although there was a tone of seriousness behind it.

"Fine by me," Karin stated, standing up as well. Hospitals weren't something she had any problems with; she was a trained medic* after all, and after years working in…certain facilities the smell of formaldehyde, disinfectant and blood were familiar. Which may or may not have been a good thing.

"Where to, cousin?" she asked, fighting down the grin that threatened to split her face. Naruto smiled at Karin and linked arms with her, guiding her out of the room and towards the front desk.

"I was thinking we could get you some new clothes, since the ones you're wearing are all torn and bloody. Plus, the Akatsuki uniform isn't really that swell of an idea in Konoha... Then we can go get lunch at my favorite Ramen shop. I suppose I'll have to tell Lady Tsunade about this... Oh! And I can introduce you to the others!"

"Others?" she asked, keeping pace with her excited cousin. She looked down at herself when her clothes were mentioned and shrugged off the cloak, the only part of her outfit that was actually Akatsuki, revealing her normal purple shirt. It was better, even if it was stained on the left with blood. New clothes were definitely in order.

The 'others' wouldn't be Uzumaki, Naruto had said he hadn't had a family so it was just the two of them. His friends, then. She would meet them, she could do that. And they were getting Ramen. Not her favorite, but not bad either.

Naruto nodded.

"I told you I didn't have family, but I do have lots of friends. You met two of them, although they weren't exactly friendly because of the circumstances; Kakashi-sensei and Sakura. There's also Iruka-sensei, Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Hinata-chan, Kiba... Lots of friends! Even some in other villages! Like Gaara and his siblings." Naruto could only smile wider, proud of his group of friends. He could still remember vividly the times where he had no one.

They left the hospital and headed towards the marketplace. People stared, but didn't say anything. Naruto didn't seem to notice it. He didn't want to tell Karin how his childhood had been like just yet, due to the demon inside of him*.

"Wait," she jumped in, looking at him strangely, "You said Gaara, as in the Kazekage?"

There was no way he knew the Kazekage; what were the chances of that? Then again, what were the chances that she would find her cousin while bleeding out on a mountain? The world was a strange place, she decided, ignoring the staring. If some girl walked by her with the amount of blood on her as Karin had on her shirt, Karin would stare too. There was something bothering her though, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Yup! I met him at the chuunin exams, changed his mind about somethings, and flipped his outlook on life for the better apparently. We became pretty good friends. I can't believe he became a Kage before me, though... I'll just have to work extra hard to catch up to him!" Naruto grinned and turned to his cousin, "You see, my dream is to one day be the Hokage! Once I'm leader around here, people will have to acknowledge and respect me!"

Naruto shrugged off the staring as well, and they stopped in a little clothes shop that was usually nice to him. He helped Karin look around the racks for something nice that fit. He noticed how uncomfortable Karin looked and tilted his head at her.

"What's eating you?" he asked.

"Huh?" She looked up from a purple shirt she had been inspecting, lost in her thoughts. What was eating her?

"Nothing really, just thinking," she folded the shirt over her arm and turned to her cousin, "You know Naruto, your chakra..." she struggled for a way to describe it without sounding 'creepy', as Suigetsu would accuse, "It's very…unique."

She turned away suddenly, finding a dark green shirt much more interesting. What had even brought that up? She had been thinking about how nice and safe his chakra felt since they had met, and when they had been revealed to relatives the turbulence in it had caused a minute change in the energy. Most sensors wouldn't have noticed, but she wasn't most. Not that it made any difference, it was just an observation on her part. The girl held the green shirt up to her torso, glancing at a mirror at her side, Naruto's reflection behind her own .

Naruto couldn't stop the expression before it slipped out, so the few factions of a second of sheer terror that showed on his face in the reflection were not quelled. He composed himself as quick as he could and turned his eyes back to the rack. He shrugged as he picked up a white blouse he thought would look nice on Karin; he was the picture of calm, idle interest. The shirt had orange buttons.

"Yeah? What of it? It isn't...bad to you, is it?" he asked.

"What?" Karin gave him a startled look, spinning around. She had just caught the look on his face in the mirror and was utterly confused. Bad?

"No, it's... Well, it's warm," she tried to think of a way to explain it that would make sense for a non-sensor, having trouble finding one, "It's like, I don't know how to say it. Never mind. But no, it's the farthest thing from bad you could get. I've just never felt anything like it before is all I was trying to say."

She shook her head and looked at the shirt in his hand, walking closer for better observation. Maybe if the buttons were red...

Naruto seemed to relax at that, letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He nodded and in seconds was back to smiling widely and bouncing around like his regular self.

"Oh, okay. That's pretty cool, actually," he said, shrugging. Was there something about his chakra he was hiding? "I've never been described at 'the furthest thing from bad' before."

He held the shirt out for her to take and compare in the mirror. He continued to comb through the racks, reaching the pants division. He pulled out a few pairs of shorts, a couple capris, and some jeans.

"Wow. Are women's pant sizes measured in black magic? These two size threes look nothing like each other."

A scowl formed on her face and Karin nodded grimly.

"Naruto, you have no idea."

She took one pair from him, inspected it, and put it back. She went through the clothes, bumping into him a few times. He had said a few things that worried her, and she planned on taking them up with him when they weren't in such a public place. A word hit her and she turned to look at him, lips curling in a smile as she folded a pair of jeans up.

"Safe. That's what it feals like. Your chakra feels safe," and then she was back at the clothes, "How much are these anyways?"

When Naruto heard her say that, he grinned brightly. He set down the things he was carrying and hugged her briefly.

"I'm glad. My chakra has never really been the 'safe' kind." He laughed and picked up Karin's choices.

"Doesn't matter. I get good pay at any rate; I do a lot of dog work, have to keep busy and all that. I live on mostly ramen too, it's my favorite, so that saves me money." There also wasn't _that_ many clothes, but it was a nice start.

"Er, okay; if you say so..." Karin mumbled, looking at her cousin in surprise. She had to re-adjust her glasses from their skewed placement after the surprise hug. She had no idea why he seemed so happy to hear that, but she wasn't upset about it. It made her worry though. But hey, some people have violent chakra by nature. Juugo did, a few of former 'associates' had, so what if her cousin did too?

"Speaking of ramen; what were you saying earlier about going out to get some?"

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Of course, let's just go pay for these and you can change into something that isn't blood stained."

A few minutes later, that was done with and they were on their way to Ichiraku's Ramen. The staring didn't stop, and now some whispering had started as well*. It wasn't everyone, but it was definitely a good few. They seemed to be keeping their distance however, not close enough to hear what they were saying.

Now that the blood was gone, she had no idea what all the attention was about. Maybe the red eyes? Or hair? She shook her head and looped her arm through Naruto's, keeping it like that until they reached a little stall labeled 'Ichiraku Ramen'. An old man behind the counter, apparently the owner, turned to look at them. He grinned when he caught sight of the two shinobi, though Karin could swear he stared at her a minute longer than her cousin.

"Naruto! Welcome back," he greeted, and Karin took a seat beside the blond, "I see you brought a friend with you."

"Teuchi-san!" Naruto greeted, grinning at the old man as they sat down, "Nice to see you again, and yeah. This isn't just a friend, though. This is my cousin; Karin! I didn't even know I had any surviving relatives, but the hospital's blood test confirmed it."

Naruto grinned, "She's going to be staying with me now, so that's also awesome."

The older man chuckled and nodded in agreement, turning to Karin. "I'm Teuchi, I own this place, and your cousin is my top customer! Glad to meet you," he stated.

"It's nice to meet you too," Karin stated, crossing her ankles. Such odd people in the Hidden Leaf.

"So, I take it you're having your regular, Naruto. And what about you, Karin?"

The girl took a minute to skim the menu before placing her own order. She turned to her cousin, amused. "You have a regular?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly and shrugged. "Hey, I told you I live on the stuff," he said, raising his hands in defense.

"Looks like it. I hope it's as good as you make it out to be," the girl muttered, looking down when a bowl was placed before her. She could still feel eyes staring holes into her back, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

Naruto picked up a pair of chopsticks as his own bowl was set down, turning to Karin and grinning. "This place has the _best_ ramen, I swear! And I've eaten ramen all over the place, so I would know."

Just then, Rock Lee burst into the shop in one of his typically dynamic entries. "Naruto! I've heard you've been walking around town with a beautiful lady!" he stated. Naruto looked up and gave a little wave, mouth currently full of ramen.

"Hey Rock Lee," he said with his mouth full. He swallowed quickly before continuing, "This is Karin, my cousin."

Rock Lee. Naruto had mentioned him when he was talking about his friends. Karin, who had switched her grip on her chop sticks to weapon-mode, relaxed at the friendly introduction. The compliment didn't hurt anything, either.

The redhead looked over the boy carefully, taking note of his near nonexistent chakra signature. What little there was buzzed with excitement and fizzled oddly. The boy himself was dressed in a green jumpsuit, flat jacket, and had a Hetai-ate as a belt. He was definitely weird (look at the hair cut and the eyebrows) something the girl was starting to associate with Konoha in general.

"'Beautiful Lady', huh?" She had been called many things, but that was unfamiliar territory. Still, she faced the boy and messed with her glasses out of habit, "I'm Karin Uzumaki."

She had a moment of happiness to herself; her first time using a last name in an introduction.

Lee grinned over at her and stretched out his hand to shake hers. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Uzumaki." He greeted pleasantly. He pulled back and blew her a kiss. "Yes, you are a beautiful lady just glowing with youth! I welcome you dearly to Konoha, we are brightened by your presence!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and jabbed Lee in the chest gently, knocking him off balance a few steps. "Inside voice, and stop hitting on my cousin, Bushy Brows."

It was a loosing battle not to blush at the words of the odd boy in front of her, and Karin could feel the heat creeping up her neck. She probably looked like a tomato. "It's nice to be here?" she offered, taking her hand back and looking wide eyed at her cousin, "You have a nice village."

Naruto waved off Lee's behavior. "Don't mind him; he always talks like that, going on about 'youth' and all that. He's still nice, though."

After a minute searching for a topic of conversation she remembered her earlier assessment of Lee's chakra and leaned towards him a bit, curious. "Tell me, Lee; are a shinobi as well?" He looked like it, but his chakra didn't feel like it. At all.

Lee sat down next to Karin, grinning brightly at her with that anime twinkle. "Yes I am, miss!" He said, flashing a thumbs up, "Taijutsu Master Lee, at your service!"

"Ah, that explains it," Karin nodded sagely, as if he had just divulged the secrets of the universe. A taijutsu master wouldn't have need for very developed chakra. Lee's was sparky, in a way that was not lightning natured, and more health hazardous in her professional opinion. She doubted he could use many jutsus at all. The girl took a bit of her ramen and hummed. It was good.

Rock Lee tilted his head at her. "What do you mean, beautiful lady?" he asked, ordering something quickly during her pause. Naruto looked over the two of them, feeling glad that his cousin was getting along with his friend.

"You chakra," she elaborated, gesturing idly towards where his heart was, "It feels like someone cut an electric wire and now it's just... there. It hasn't gone away, but it isn't being conducted anywhere. With a chakra system like that there's very little chance of a person ever becoming a ninja at all. It's impressive that you've gotten as far as you have."

In fact, he shouldn't have gotten that far at all. It was shocking he had graduated the academy, let alone made it up past genin.

Rock Lee smiled a bit, seeming more quiet now although not any less accepting. He nodded as he grabbed some chopsticks, starting on his ramen. "Yeah, I can't use my chakra or any jutsu. I had to work extra hard, but I got through," he grinned up at her, "So what if I can't use jutsu, eh? I'm still as good as the next ninja."

"I'm sure you are," there wasn't the normal condescending tone she might have used with other people. This Lee person had made it further in official ranking than she had, so he must be good enough to become at least a chunin. The sudden lack of shouting had caught her off guard though, and she hoped she hadn't screwed up with one of her cousins friends. It didn't seem that way, but still.

Rock Lee grinned at her, his enthusiasm from before coming back quickly. God, he was like Naruto; you couldn't keep him down for long. "Just as good, but I have sworn to myself to become better!" Rock Lee exclaimed, clenching his fist as fire burned in his eyes, "I must become the best!"

Naruto grinned over at him and rolled his eyes at his antics. At least the background hadn't changed to a sunset again... He wondered how he did that.

Karin stared at him, leaning back a few inches. Boys turning into puddles she could handle, boys who's eyes started flaming, well, she could adjust. The newly claimed Uzumaki had never met someone so vocally determined to something before. Over Lee's shoulder she caught someone staring and glared at them for a second before returning her attention to the green glad shinobi.

This village had truly weird people.

Naruto leaned over to Karin while Rock Lee continued his motivation speech about youth, dreams, something or other. "You'll get used to him. It took the rest of us a while, too. Wait until you meet Gai-sensei, he's like a bigger version of Lee." Naruto laughed.

"There's two of them?" she asked, staring wide eyed at the one already in front of her. And that one was a teacher?

Naruto nodded sagely. "Yeah, there is. This entire village is filled with... colorful characters. None are quite as loud as those two though, so don't worry."

"Well, I'm already ahead of the curve then," she joked, twirling a crimson strand around her fingers.

Naruto laughed, "You'll fit right in."

Rock Lee had stopped talking by now and was wolfing down his food. Once he'd finished and paid, he stood up."I hate to leave so soon, but Gai-sensei is expecting me for training! I will talk to you later, beautiful lady, and Naruto." Rock Lee blew Karin a kiss that came out in a little anime heart. He ran off towards the training grounds.

The girl avoided the heart, giving it a very strange look as she leaned closer to her cousin and further from it. "How is that even possible?" she asked. It wasn't like it was a genjutsu or something. She would have noticed. It didn't make sense. The heart collided with a wall and exploded with a little pop.

Naruto shrugged, giving the heart a weary look. "I haven't the slightest clue. Rock Lee just sort of... bends the laws of reality at will. Never in any _useful_ way, though."

She shook her head and finished off her ramen, setting down her chopsticks. "Are all of your friends like that?"

Naruto had already finished his a little while ago. He shrugged. "Reality benders? No. Why, does it bother you?" He quickly paid for their ramen.

"It'll take some getting used to, but he seemed like a nice person," she stretched her arms above her head, shoulders popping soundly. "Where to next?"

"Well, we could go tell Grandman Tsunade about this development, go and find some more people to introduce you to, or I can go show you my apartment." He listed on his fingers as they left the ramen shop.

"We should probably take this stuff," she gestured to the clothes bags, "to your apartment. We can tell the Hokage after that, and depending on how that goes you can introduce me to more people.

Naruto nodded, picking up the bags for Karin. "Sounds like a plan!" he said, grinning. "Come on!" He took Karin by the hand and started to lead her to his apartment.

She followed him willingly, skipping a few times to keep her balance as they made their way to the complex. She looked up at it dubiously, eye brow raised. "You live here?"

Naruto nodded, looking a bit sheepish. "Ehehe, yeah. I know it isn't the best of places, but it has running water so there's that." Naruto shrugged and lead Karin inside.

She looked around, eyes sharp as she took in the environment. "You weren't kidding about living off ramen," she noted, staring at the pile of cups in the trash can. The place could use a good cleaning, and the walls didn't look entirely done either, but it would suffice. Better than an interrogation room, at least.

Naruto shrugged. "I never really learned how to cook anything else. Ramen was quick and easy, so I could always get back to my training faster." Naruto set Karin's bag of clothes down on the kitchen table and looked around. He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I guess I should clean up, eh? I'll do it when you're at the T&I department being Mind Walked, it shouldn't take long."

Karin gave a sharp nod in agreement, though she wasn't sure she liked the idea of the Mind Walk. "Fine. Back to the tower?

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Right." On their way back, the whispering and stares had died down. Most of them were directed to Naruto now.

At last she got sick of it and turned to Naruto, scowling darkly. "What is going on?" she asked, glaring at one of the less subtle civilians in a manner usually reserved for her most unruly charges. The woman flinched back and turned to look away hurriedly.

Naruto shrugged and looked around, seeming to not have noticed it until she brought it up."Hm? Oh, them. I didn't notice, guess I'm used to it by now," Naruto trailed off, "Even though I have lots of friends, the general population... They aren't fond of me."

"Oh. What's wrong with them?" she asked in her normal, brash manner, stepping closer to Naruto. She couldn't think of any reason not to like the blond. Of course, she might be biased.

Naruto paused for a moment, debating telling Karin the truth. He sighed and took his cousin by the arm. "Come on," he said, leading her to an alley and then a bit further down out of the prying eyes of the populace. He didn't want to tell her so early, afraid of losing his only family so soon. There wasn't a way out of it though, he'd have to tell her eventually. He tried to come up with something to say, but couldn't think of anything. He sighed again and pulled up his shirt, showing Karin the seal on his belly.

"The Kyuubi is sealed inside me, and they blame me for the past destruction of Konoha and the death of their loved ones," he stated bluntly.

"You- what?" she stared at Naruto, then looked at the seal. Back to his eyes, again at the seal. The gears in her head started turning and she cast her senses towards the markings. She regretted it almost instantly.

The color vanished from her face the second she felt the demon's chakra, like touching death itself. Unconsciously her heel backed an inch.

But it did explain a lot. Before they had been let out in their cloaks, they had been warned not to kill someone. Madara had insisted that if they saw him, Sasuke would know who. Her cousin was being targeted by a criminal organization. Her cousin was a Jinchuriki.

Naruto pulled his shirt back down, crossing his arms subconsciously over his stomach. He shrugged and looked away. "I suppose you're having second thoughts about staying now, right?" he said sadly. He sighed, "It's okay."

"I didn't say that!" she blurted out. She didn't know. It was a lot to take in at once. She got stabbed by someone she trusted, she found out she had a family, and she found out that family member was a container for the strongest demon there was.

Karin would be lying if she said that didn't affect her thoughts.

_He isn't the one that almost killed you._

No, he wasn't. In fact, he had saved her life. And it wasn't his chakra that was so dark, it was the kyuubi's. His was still bright and welcoming. It was like the difference between the Juugo that fed birds and the one that laughed while decapitating someone. Not the same person. He wasn't the fox.

The scowl returned to her face. These people blamed him for their pain? Were they stupid?

Naruto looked up at her, a bit surprised. She seemed to be thinking hard, absorbing all the new information, but... She didn't seem disgusted, or scared, or angry in the slightest. Naruto bit his lip and decided to wait patiently while his cousin gathered her thoughts.

When her scowl returned, but didn't seem directed at him, he allowed himself to relax a bit.

"I know it's a lot, but... You deserve to know, you know? You're family."

"Yeah, we are family," Karin hummed in response, nodding absently. There was still something not right about this. Her eyes met her cousin's, expression hard when some of his words from before came to mind. "Naruto, earlier you said you spent a lot of time in the hospital as a kid. Why was that?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably under his cousin's eyes and hard expression. He shrugged and looked down to his feet. "I said the general population wasn't fond of me. The adults couldn't tell the children why, so they just told them I was bad and to stay away. I was an easy target for bullying... And the adults_ knew _why, so I was an easy target for them as well."

"Assholes," she growled. Bullies were one thing she knew. No dad, no last name, red hair, red eyes, _and_ glasses. The insults practically wrote themselves. After a few minutes she calmed herself down, channeling her inner 'base leader'.

"I can plot their demise later, we still need to go talk to your Hokage," she stated, forcing herself to focus on something she could do right then.

Naruto was a bit surprised with Karin taking his side, but he grinned anyway. He was really glad he hadn't scared her off, since he'd been planning on telling her much later. He nodded, still grinning.

"Right, I'm sure the Old Lady would like to know about this." He took Karin's hand, humming a bit to himself as they left the alley and continued their walk to the Hokage Tower. The stares and whispers continued, but Naruto didn't seem to notice them at all.

Karin ignored the attention, keeping her head high this time. Now that she knew the reason she was no longer offended, she was mad. Her grip on Naruto's hand tightened subconsciously as they walked, her eyes fixed on the tower.

The two were waved through with a good bit of odd looks but made their way to the village leader presently.

Once they'd climbed the stairs up to the Hokage's office, Naruto knocked briefly on the door. In typical Naruto fashion, he walked in without the go-ahead directly after. Tsunade looked up from her after-paperwork celebratory shot of sake and sighed. She looked over the two of them, raising her eyebrow at their joined hands. She nodded at Karin's new clothes.

"What brings you two here again? Has something happened?"

One might say that. Karin had stopped holding onto Naruto's hand and stepped forward, meeting the Hokage's gaze with her own.

"The blood tests run at the hospital came back. They had results we thought you might like to know," she explained, wondering if Naruto wanted to be the one to give her the news.

Naruto swallowed and stepped forward as well. He cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes briefly. "Karin and I are closely blood related. We're cousins." he stated.

Tsunade seemed taken aback, setting down her sake. Her eyes widened a bit as she tried to process this new information.

"I'm Karin Uzumaki." Words could not describe how good it felt to say that. The girl doubted the feeling would ever wear off.

Tsunade nodded slowly after a few moments. "The Uzumaki were closely tied to the Senju clan, and are one of the official clans of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It simply wouldn't do to throw you out when your family is so highly regarded. If you truly have forsaken your earlier affiliates, as we'll find out when you are Mind Walked, then... I suppose we could incorporate you into our ranks. You'll have to prove your loyalty, of course."

"Of course," she agreed quickly. It wouldn't be the first time she had defected. Actually all things considered this would be the third time she had left one group for another. "What exactly does this mind walk do?" she asked, having been wondering that for awhile.

"Our Yamanaka clan here in Konoha is renown for their techniques concerning the mind. They have many abilities, one of which is to read and enter minds. Mind Walking is when one of these individuals will enter your mind during interrogation and well, walk through it. They'll report back with any important information and also will be able to tell if you're lying. If you aren't, we'll allow you to stay."

"That sounds fair. When will we be doing this?" An iterating technique. She had heard rumors about people being able to do things similar to that, but never had anything solid been sent her way. Karin frowned, wondering what they would make of her years assisting Orochimaru. Her actions then hadn't been the most morally correct. Juugo and Suigetsu could both vouch for that fact, if they were ever around to do so.

"Tomorrow morning at the T&I Building a Yamanaka clan member will be waiting. I've already arranged it. It will last most of the day, so I hope you haven't already made other plans."

"None that I know of," the girl replied, looking over at her cousin. He had seemed worried about telling the Hokage about their relation, she briefly wondered why before putting the thoughts out of her mind. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, we don't have anything planned. I need to clean the apartment anyway, and buy some food that isn't instant ramen."

The red head snorted softly. "That much ramen can't be healthy for you," Karin commented.

"Eh, it's the best I can get." Naruto said, shrugging.

"We'll se how that pans out now," she mumbled quietly before looking up at the sanin, "If there's nothing else you wish to discuss, Naruto was going to introduce me to some of his friends?"

Tsunade shook her head, bring her shot of sake to her lips. "No, there's nothing more. You're dismissed." She waved them off.

Naruto bowed briefly before he and Karin left.

Karin took her cousins arm again once they were out of the office, thoughts going a mile a minute. Normally, at this time her silver haired teammate would interrupt her and she would send him back into his water state. The girl frowned, realizing that she was thinking about them more than she should have and instead brought her focus to Naruto once more.

"Who do you want to see first?"

"I dunno. I'm not even sure where my friend's are... Let's head down to the training grounds and see if we can find some!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning. He started to drag her along towards the training grounds, running in his excitement.

* * *

**I have no idea if Karin is an actual medic in canon but I've assumed so. Healing bite is only safe a few times and being part of Orochimaru's experiments she would pick up a few techniques, I figured. **

**In canon Karin does know who Naruto is as far as Jinchuriki status, here she does not. She doesn't focus enough on his chakra at first because she's injured and anyone who's ever suffered extreme blood lost will tell you that your head isn't straight for a while after it. **

**This is after the invasion of Pein arc so yes, we know that the people no longer hate him. But plot things so yeah. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Eclipse's Ultra Rare Author's Note: I feel I must disclaim something really quick. 'Mind Walking' as a Yamanaka clan technique was originally a concept used in CompYES's fanfiction; 'The Cassandra Effect'. That story can be found on right here on and I highly recommend it. I don't claim any ownership of the original idea. That being said, although it shares a name and basic function here, we changed the actual effects of the jutsu. I hope CompYES doesn't mind us using their jutsu and expanding upon it.**

* * *

_In The Last Chapter..._ "I dunno. I'm not even sure where my friend's are... Let's head down to the training grounds and see if we can find some!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning. He started to drag her along towards the training grounds, running in his excitement.

* * *

Karin almost tripped when he grabbed her, accelerating to a full-out sprint in the direction opposite of what she was facing. Luckily, she caught herself after the initial near-stumble and kept up, thankful she was still in her boots and not civilian shoes. "How many training grounds are here?"

"A lot, so I guess we'll just have to check them all until we find somebody," Naruto said, picking up speed. He was smiling, less cheek-hurting than his full-out grin but no less happy.

The kunoichi was surprised by just how energetic Naruto was, not _unpleasantly_ so, but it hadn't been expected. She followed him until they reached the start of the training grounds, and from there she showed off her sensing abilities, expressing which ones were in use and which were not.

"That's really cool," Naruto complimented as they headed towards the first occupied training ground. He'd calmed down now, and they were moving at a more reasonable pace, "Can you sense everyone's chakra?" Her expression turned slightly smug as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, the light catching and reflecting on the lenses.

"That's right. Even if they try to suppress it, I'll know they're there." She knew she was bragging, but it wasn't often she got to show off her talents when not on some kind of mission.

"And you can 'feel' how their chakra is as well? Must be good for gauging if a person is friendly or not," Naruto wished he had that power when he was younger, or even now. He did have a problem with being too trusting... They arrived at the first training ground where Ino, Shikamaru, Neiji, Tenten, Kiba, and Hinata were. They were sparing in pairs, back by the tree line of the grounds across the field.

"It can be, but there's no real way of telling what kind of person someone is until you actually meet. I can tell their intent though," she explained, moving her hands idly. When they were within hearing distance of the other ninja she shut her mouth, glancing over the others and taking note of their individual signatures. The training exercises stopped and she found herself being stared at.

Naruto linked arms with Karin and grinned, walking up to the group of ninjas paused in their training. He called out to them. "Hi guys! I want to introduce you to someone. This is Karin Uzumaki; she's my cousin!"

The reactions were varied. Three looked surprised, two looked only mildly interested, and one kept looking at Naruto, then Karin, then the ground. The red head propped a hand on her hip, the other arm occupied, and looked them over.

"Hey," one of the girl, the politely smiling brunette, was the first to break the silence, "I'm Tenten. The quiet one over there," frowning long haired boy, "is my teammate; Neji Hyuuga."

The blonde came up next, looking her over briefly before introducing herself as Ino Yamanaka plus teammate Shikamaru Nara. The only boy to say more than 'hey' had red triangles on his cheeks and strange chakra that seemed to mix with the dog her was riding. How the canine got to be that big she didn't have the slightest idea.

"I'm Kiba, this is my partner Akamaru, and that's our other teammate; Hinata," he greeted, smiling easily down at Karin.

Naruto grinned, looking between his friends and his cousin. He was expecting them to be nice, of course, but he was still excited to see them get along. He had family now, he was insanely happy, and he'd show her off to the whole village if he could.

"She's going to be living with me for now on, and joining the Konoha ranks," he informed them, nearly bouncing on his feet.

"That's the plan anyway," but with the way things might go tomorrow she wasn't sure.

"You're a kunoichi?" Ino asked, and Karin nodded.

"I was born in Kusa," she explained, not bothering to give more details. If they wanted to know more they could ask.

"And y-you're Naruto's cousin?" Hinata repeated. The red head nodded and caught the other Hyuuga looking at her.

"I didn't know Naruto had any relatives," Neji stated, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at her.

Karin shrugged. "I didn't know either until a few hours ago."

"We_ both_ thought that we had no living blood relatives left, but we found out otherwise when Karin had to do a blood test at the hospital," Naruto explained, "For being in different countries, we're certainly closely related. Only about two degrees of separation. "

Naruto grinned again, folding his arms behind his head. "She didn't even know her own last name until a few hours ago, she just went by Karin."

"Don't just tell people that!" She punched his arm none too gently and huffed, not actually _upset _but having been perfectly happy just being introduced as an Uzumaki. It was no one's business how long she had been one.

Naruto rubbed his sore arm and frowned at Karin, puppy-dog pouting at her. "You don't have to be so rough!" he whined.

Kiba started laughing at Naruto's expression and his dog barked loudly, causing the Uzumaki girl to jump.

"So, we've got another Uzumaki running around the village? I hope you're less troublesome than Naruto is..." Shikamaru commented, cutting himself off with a yawn. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

Naruto dropped the puppy eyes, turning his head to grin slyly at Shikamaru. He laughed a bit. "Oh no, she's much worse. Better watch out, Shikamaru..." he teased. He waved his hands in a spooky gesture.

This time Karin's palm connected with his cheek and the girl shoved him without actual force, still not serious but frowning in mock severity. Naruto followed along with her action, even though she wasn't pushing hard, and sat down cross-legged on the ground.

"Quiet you," she ordered.

He pretended to zip his lips shut, grinning up at Karin all the while. His friends watched on, clearly amused, and it was easy to see that Kiba was the loudest of them from how he was laughing.

"You should be nicer to your cousin, Karin," Ino pretended to scold her. Naruto 'unzipped' his lips at Ino's comment, looking up at his cousin.

"Yeah, Kar. You should be nicer to your _adorable_,_ awesome_ cousin."

"The cousin part I'll agree with," she teased, crossing her arms and looking down at him. Her brows pinched together suddenly as she felt a familiar chakra signature and looked to the west, confused. Naruto looked mock-offended for a moment until Karin looked away, where his expression turned bemused.

The other followed her gaze, raising eyebrows all around. "What are you looking at?" Ino asked after a minute. Karin made 'hm' and looked back at her, momentarily forgetting they didn't know about her sensing abilities.

"Lee. He runs faster than I would have thought."

When she elaborated, Naruto made a small 'oh' noise and nodded. "Karin is a sensor ninja," he explained to the others after seeing how confused they looked, "She met Lee earlier, so now she knows how his chakra feels and can track his movements."

"He just went by with someone else," someone with more chakra. Karin kept watching the area she knew they were in although she couldn't see them visually.

There were two sudden shouts of 'Youth!' heard throughout the training ground before the two signatures were out of her range. Tenten and Neji shook their heads, sweat dropping in embarrassment.

"That's probably Gai-sensei. He and Rock Lee are on our team as well," Tenten offered, looking like she didn't want to come forward with the information.

Naruto laughed, getting back to his feet and brushing the dust from his pant legs."Oh yeah, I did tell her a little about Gai. I can't wait to see her reaction to actually meeting him... It's going to be hilarious."

"He's not that bad," the brunette tried to defend, only to give in when her other teammate accused her of lying. She nodded. He was. He was that bad.

Shikamaru sighed, "Ino and I have to meet up with our team in a few minutes for group training. We'll see you around."

"Bye Karin, try to keep your cousin out of trouble," Ino advised, grinning at her as the two walked off.

Naruto and Karin waved goodbye to Shikamaru and Ino, "Bye guys!" Naruto said. Well, this day had been productive.

* * *

The morning of her interrogation was nerve wracking, to say the lest. She couldn't stop tapping the hard plastic of the chair she was sat upon with her fingernail, and her other hand was twisting the end of her ponytail between her fingers. This could either go perfectly, or horridly wrong. There was no inbetween.

The T&I department had a distinctly professional feel to it, but underneath the plain exterior of a waiting room she could sense the inner workings of the floors below; there was chakra fluctuating under her very feet and all around her in the form of seals and various jutsu. It was hard to be comforted by the friendly front desk receptionist and off-white walls when the 'T' of T&I was just below the surface. She knew well enough that down _there _was where she'd end up if they didn't like what they found in her head...

It was soon after that a nondescript worker entered the waiting room and disrupted such thoughts, a clipboard in his hands. The very plain man looked around the waiting room over the rim of his glasses before approaching her.

"Are you Karin Uzumaki?"

"That's right," she said, standing up quickly. It was better to just get it over with, for better or worst, since it was really the suspense that was killing her, "I'm Karin." She barely looked at him, busy pulling her senses back to her after her impromptu observation on Konoha's interrogation methods. From what she could tell, they relied heavily on chakra usage.

The man nodded, gesturing to the door he came in through with his thumb. "Your room is ready. Yamanaka-san can see you now," he told her, his voice level with no inflection in the slightest. He sounded bored to be honest. He let her go first, moving aside to let her though, and then followed behind her. He directed her down the winding halls into the assigned room.

The indifferent way he spoke made it sound like she was just at the doctors office for a check up. That thought was vaguely comforting and her stomach ceased making unpleasant flips. Karin followed the man's direction as she was ushered into a room marked '6', glancing around as she crossed the threshold until her gaze stopped at the face of a blond man. He looked very much like Ino, and the girl decided they were either close relatives or he was her father.

"You're the one that's going to take a look inside my mind?" she asked as the door was shut behind her. She entered the room without further prompt and sat in the chair provided across from the blond man. The man nodded, sweeping his long blond ponytail back over his shoulder.

"Yes, I will be. I've been ordered to go over your memories as a member of Team Hebi/Taka, extract everything you know about the Akatsuki and its leader, and make sure you really wish to become a member of Konoha. We have to be certain you aren't planning on betraying us."

"Betray you to who?" she asked. The only people she was even remotely loyal to now who weren't her cousin were probably in jail. Everyone else was either dead or she wished they were. He hadn't mentioned her time with Orochimaru.

War had been declared, and she was decently strong with insider information, so maybe they didn't want any reason to have to lock her up? They needed all the help they could get, being such a target, and she would be more useful to them if she wasn't rotting in a jail cell. She assumed, if that was true, her morally questionable past would be on a 'don't ask, don't tell' basis.

"Maybe not willingly loyal, but I was told to make sure no one has any blackmail on you either. The Akatsuki, if they have any dirt on you, could threaten you to come back to them." That confirmed her suspicions a bit. They didn't want to hear anything bad about her or have to lose her. "Or Uchiha Sasuke; The report I was given said that you seemed very infatuated with him."

"I was. Until he _literally_ stabbed me in the heart. Whatever you want to know, just ask," she told him as she reclined back in her chair, jaw twitching a bit at the mention of that bastard. She couldn't think of anything the Akatsuki might have on her. Nothing that would make her want to leave her family at least. The man nodded and breezed through a complex series of hand signs.

"Please retain eye contact with me and keep still. This will only sting for as long as you try to fight me or lock me out," he informed her in a pleasant but professional tone. He made a sign similar to the one Ino had made during the chuunin exams, the one that resembled a heart, and pointed it towards Karin.

Odd hand sign as far as she was concerned but Karin didn't fight the chakra that suddenly invaded her senses. Her eyes unfocused and she continued to stare straight ahead.

The man's chakra invaded her mind until it formed into a representation of him in her thoughts. Her mind was visualized by a hall of doors by the jutsu. They stood at the end of the corridor, in the present, so it could be assumed that the doors all lead to memories. The hallway was formed of dark wood that smelt like grass with a warm stone floor. Everything was ordered nicely, with no sloppy gaps between doors like he sometimes saw.

"Lead me to the door where you first joined team Hebi, just recall the memory and we should start walking there," he said. She sighed and nodded.

"Just don't judge me. I didn't know he was an ass back then," she warned, walking towards the door she assumed held the memory. She pushed it open and let the man in, following in after him.

"I'm not allowed to judge you personally in a professional setting," he informed her blankly before falling silent, watching the memory. She stepped aside from the door that closed without her moving it, watching as 'she' kicked away the hand of one of the prisoners from where it had been reaching through the bars of his cell.

Sasuke appeared at the end of the remembered hallway, Suigetsu at his side, and Karin's memory went on from there. It showed her flirting with Sasuke after Suigetsu left to her leaving the hideout with them to go find Juugo. The prisoners had all been freed, and those that stuck around to get supplies cowered away from her as she walked out with the two boys.

The Yamanaka observed with sharp eyes as he watched her leave with the two boys. He had a notepad out and was jotting down notes, a mirror of what he was doing in the real world. "What was the purpose for Team Hebi when it started out?" he asked.

"To help Sasuke find his brother, Itachi Uchiha. We weren't meant to help him fight, just distract anyone Itachi was with until he was dead. Did you want to see that memory too? I wasn't around for the actual fight but I was there when Sasuke won."

A door appeared in the memory and the Yamanaka led them out. They stepped back into the hallway and she glanced in both directions, finding the entire jutsu interesting but weird. The man nodded as the door closed behind them, motioning for her to lead them to the next memory. Not much was reported on the death of Uchiha Itachi and it was always good to know more.

She did so, stepping into the memory of Sasuke, almost unconscious, and the body of his brother laying in front of him. She watched herself rush forward and instruct her ex-leader to bite her, watched it go on until Madara showed up and offered them a place to rest and information. Then the memory cut off and they were in a small, 5×5 grey room with the door on the wall behind them.

"Why did you tell him to bite you?" The man asked, turning to look at Karin, "And that man... Was he Madara Uchiha?"

"It's a healing technique I have. By consuming my chakra the person is healed of injuries, even fatal ones, and re-energized. I can use it on myself as well, but it takes up a lot of chakra," she explained, frowning, "It also leaves a permanent scar. From what I can tell that man is Madara, and he has the Mangekyo Sharingan if nothing else. He even knew to replace Sasuke's eyes with Itachi's so he wouldn't go blind."

The man nodded, jotting down some more notes. He'd have to add that ability to her file. "What else do you know about Madara Uchiha? Tell me everything you can remember about him and his plans."

"He can suck people into an alternate dimension using his Sharingan, he's skilled at taijutsu, and he's the real leader of the Akatsuki. Madara can make himself intangible, so physical attacks don't work. He wants to take over the world and cast an eternal genjutsu from the moon to make paradise. Oh! And he knew the truth about, and was involved in, the Uchiha clan massacre," she summed up. That was as extensive as her knowledge was on the masked man.

The man nodded, having written down all that while we was speaking. "Alright, and do you have any idea what their next move will be?

"Sasuke wants to destroy Konoha, but Madara is trying to catch all of the Bijuu. I think their next move would be for them to use the war as a distraction and take Naruto and that other jinchuriki, Killer B, while everyone is fighting," Or at least that was her guess. And she was _not_ letting them get to her family.

The man nodded again, although that wasn't anything they weren't already expecting. "Thank you very much, Ms. Uzumaki. I'll be ending the jutsu in a moment, but I've not detected any falsehood from you, nor any desire to defect back to Akatsuki. You may return back to your cousin's apartment, if you wish."

That didn't mean _without _continued ANBU detail watching her, of course, but she was free to go. In all honesty, she should have been staying in T&I for a few weeks rather than a few minutes and having her brain picked. Allowances had to be made for wartime, however, and she'd just have to be called in again.

"Alright. If there's anything else you think I could help with, I'm not hard to find," or her hair wasn't at least.

The man nodded and cut the jutsu. Suddenly they were back in the interrogation room. He stood up and bowed to her. "Thank you for cooperating." He said. She mirrored the action and made her exit, intent on finding her cousin or, if not him, one of his friends.


End file.
